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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

My IKEA kitchen hell

Tuesday 15/07/2008 go to IKEA and order an "Applad" off white kitchen and matching marble countertop at IKEA. It takes 5 hours and is
exhausting. Not all parts are available. The staff in the kitchen department
say that parts will be kept back on our behalf when they arrive. It costs
about 13000 shekels for the kitchen 3000 for the countertop. It is
slightly cheaper then the cheapest supplier I have been able to find and is the
only supplier who can promises almost immediate delivery.

Thursday 17/07/2008 IKEA deliver kitchen (in boxes). cost:350 shekels

Thursday 24/07/2008 an IKEA sub-contractor comes and measures the kitchen.

Friday 8/08/2008 the same IKEA sub-contractor comes and puts
the kitchen together - except for missing parts and corrections. He gives
us a pile of bits to return and list of missing parts to request, most of which are doors: the kitchen has no doors. The
subcontractor costs 1600 shekels for two visits. The idea is that he puts
up what he can on the first visit and then after we collect the missing parts
he will do the remainder on a second visit. This is the first visit.

Monday 11/8/08 The staff in the IKEA kitchen department tell me that
Applad off-white has been replaced and the colours have changed. They send me
to the customer service department, where I queue for 45 minutes and then am
told that customer services will call "next day". I am given an
incident number: 810697. The whole visit takes about 4 hours. I now
know most of the little short-cuts through the store.

After a couple of days I break and call customer services who tell me to be
patient and that they will respond on Sunday.

Sunday 17/8/2008 customer services finally call to say the problem is
simple. IKEA have replaced the catalogue numbers but there is no change
to the colours, I just need to wait for the new numbers to enter the store.

I then periodically call customer services (about 15 minutes each time),
initially the parts are being shipped, then they are in port, then they are
waiting arrival in store...

Thursday 3/9/2008 all the required parts except for one door are in the
store. I figure best to get what I can before it leaves the store.

Friday 4/9/08 14:00 We go to the IKEA store and discover that Applad colours
have indeed changed from off-white to white. After an angry visit to customer
services (we don't queue) we are told to select all new white Applad
parts to replace the off-white Applad that are now out of service (Applad is
the only type we like) and then return to customer services.

We go to the kitchen department and order new white fronts for the kitchen.
Some parts can't be replaced because they have marble counter-top stuck to them
but most can. So we will have a few stripes of off-white amid the white
kitchen. It may not be too bad as the dish-washer is white.

After the reorder I spend 30 minutes queuing for customer services. Shift
manager Y. Fadlon of customer services promises that they will come and
remove the parts that need to be replaced. I have now paid for some parts
of the kitchen twice.

Finally I go to collect the parts (each collection requires a two hour wait
after payment) and am told that 3 white doors are not in the warehouse,
although payment has been taken - a computer error?
I go back to customer
services (no queuing this time) Y. Fadlon promises they will be shipped at
IKEA's expense the moment they come in and that they will call on Sunday.
My money is not refunded. Given incident number 810697 (the same as
last time).

I know some more short-cuts through the store. Possibly all of them.

Sunday 7/9/08. No one calls. At 17:00 I break and call IKEA services.
I talk to Martha. She tells me that they will call me back in two
days I insist she talk to her managers. she tells me her managers are
called C. Itelberg (customer service phones) and L. Tapuz (customer service
face-to-face). After a delay she promises that a "senior customer
service person" called Levana, who specializes in kitchens, will call me
the next day.

Monday 8/9/08 16:15 Levana calls. She tells me she will try to locate
the missing parts (off white) in foreign stores. Tells me to get as much done
as possible in the off-white - that is to have the sub-contractor do his second
visit and finish off what he can. She says they will pay for extra visits to
build the kitchen and tells me to ignore the new white version, says that they
will collect it from me.

I am now managing three inventories:

a. the missing off-white parts from the kitchen

b. the missing white parts from the kitchen

c. the white parts I have paid for but which IKEA have not supplied.

This is starting to confuse me - even the IKEA computer system finds it hard
to manage this.

I also have a large bundle of receipts that I am trying not to lose and a
large stack of IKEA boxes in my spare room. I decide it is time to
photograph the kitchen. I am considering calling my lawyer for advice but
fear the added cost. I no longer have any idea how much this kitchen has
cost but estimate that I have reached the 20,000 shekels mark although refunds
may be eventually materialize.

4 comments:

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